Garments such as brassieres have used hook and eye fasteners for more than ninety years. The hooks and eyes are mounted on a stabilized (non-stretchable) fabric, usually referred to as a “tape.” The tape is then mounted on the garment. Typically, a set of vertical columns and rows of eyes, usually between two and four in number, are aligned on a tape. Similarly there is a tape containing one corresponding vertical column of hooks such that the number of eyes per each column corresponds to the number of hooks. If there are three hooks in the hook column, there will be three eyes in each vertical column of eyes.
The use of multiple, horizontally-spaced columns of eyes allows for minor horizontal adjustment to the garment's fit. Typically, multiple eye columns are separated by about five eighths of an inch, or approximately 16 millimeters on a portion of the stabilized fabric eye tape. In such a case, if there were three columns of eyes mounted on the tape, the wearer would have and adjustment range of five eighths to one and a quarter of an inch (16 to 32 millimeters). If the brassiere is of an incorrect size, discomfort and poor fit are experienced. Studies show that 30% of women buy brassieres of a size too small. Often the brassiere size requirements change over time or even during the day. Multiple columns of eyes provide for some relief, but the wearer is limited to a few fixed positions. Additionally, when the hook row gets inserted into an eye row, the back of the hook can often be felt through the fabric of the eye tape by the wearer due to the pressure of the closure. Furthermore, the back of the bra where the tapes are attached has a tendency to ride up on the wearer's back, requiring the wearer to re-adjust the garment.
Adjustment capabilities greater than that provided by multiple eye columns was desired. Further, it was desirable to have a garment automatically adjust (expand and contract) without intervention by the wearer. A prior attempt to address this adjustment issue is disclosed in commonly-owned U.S. Pat. No. 6,520,832. While the decreased tension in the garment due to the horizontal flexibility lessened the pressure of the hook as it pressed against the wearer, it did not totally eliminate the discomfort. Additionally, the present inventors have found that the flexible knitted fabrics used to achieve the girth adjustment as disclosed in commonly-owned U.S. Pat. No. 6,520,832 caused other problems. When manufactured with ordinary sewing techniques, the edges of the flexible knitted fabrics tended to fray, causing premature wear of the edges of the hook and eye tape and discomfort to the user. When the edges of the tape were heat sealed to prevent fraying, the heat sealed edges were uncomfortably hard/sharp and would later crack when stretched, making audible cracking noises. Again, this cracking caused premature wear of the edges of the hook and eye tape and discomfort to the user. Further, the uni-directional stretch tape of U.S. Pat. No. 6,520,832 had sufficient vertical rigidity in the hook and eye tapes to cause the tapes to shift vertically out of place when the wearer moved, requiring the wearer to adjust the garment.
What would be desirable is an apparatus and method for dynamically adjusting the girth of a garment fasted by hook and eye that has markedly increased comfort to the wearer and improved durability.